Fighter
by renbunny04
Summary: Beth is running when Daryl finds and saves her, but what is she running from? With them both alone in his small house in the woods, secrets are bound to come out. AU Bethyl
1. Chapter 1

Beth ran, her left leg dragging behind her, blood soaking through the hasty bandage she made for herself. She had ignored the pain for hours, but she started to think she couldn't go on. She was so grateful for her years of cross country. Not only had it given her a college scholarship, but it was keeping her alive now.

She looked around at the trees surrounding her. She had ran into the thick Georgia woods outside the cabin she and her boyfriend were staying at. She now realized just how far she could have gone in the few hours she had been running. She felt dizzy and her head started to spin. She noticed the blood steadily trickling out of her arm and looked behind her to see the spots of it, that had dripped behind her leaving a trail. She slid down a tree and used it to keep herself upright as she sat. She watched as the trees blended together and everything faded to black.

* * *

Daryl had been out hunting all day. He needed to get his mind off the fact that his no good son of a bitch brother was out of prison in a week. Daryl knew his father was looking for him. He had been for the past two years. He had finally thought he was safe. Away from the pain and drugs and his old life. He thought he would be able just to live his simple life in the woods, but he knew that once Merle was out, he would find Daryl. Make him help deal and run his whole drug mafia type of shit he had going. Daryl hoped he would leave him alone, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. And if he refused, Merle would tell their father exactly where his favorite son was.

Daryl snapped himself out of his heavy thoughts. It had been a slow day hunting and he was starting to get pissed at the idea of going home empty handed. His head whipped around as he heard rustling to his left. He headed in the direction when he saw spots of blood. He looked closer, but saw no animal prints. He began to track the blood, his crossbow aimed and ready, for the human he knew he was looking for. The blood trail started to thin out a bit and Daryl continued on. His heart started to pound in his head as he thought of the possibility of it being Merle.

He quickly dismissed the thought. His brother may be a dumbass, but he wasn't dumb enough to try to escape with a week left. He narrowed his eyes as he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It looked like a girls body. He started to jog to her. Did somebody just dump a body out here? He looked over at the girl. She looked to be in her early twenties with pale white skin and wavy brunette hair that was loosely tied in a ponytail. Nope, Daryl didn't recognize her, but she was bleeding something awful and was sticky with sweat. He bent over her to feel her pulse. It was faint, but it was there.

"Oh shit," He muttered. He quickly scooped the girl up. She was fairly light and he was thankful for that. It seemed like forever but he finally got home and his fingers quickly dialed the number he never thought he would have to again.

"Hey Sasha, you 'member the time I saved your ass at the bar? 'N you said you owed me one? Well I'm calling it in now. Bring all yur stuff. 'N hurry."

He hung up before the stunned Sasha had a chance to say anything and started chewing on his thumb. He quickly started wrapping the girl's bleeding arm and calf with bandage and hoped it would be enough until Sasha got there.

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**Hope you liked! I know Beth isn't a brunette but that will be changed soon and its not too hard to imagine since she's the only blond Greene baby. :) Thanks for reading! More to come soon :)**


	2. Chapter 2

About ten minutes later, Sasha rushed in the door, still in her scrubs, as she had gotten off of work a half hour ago. She was a nurse at the local hospital so she had always patched the guys up, when things took a turn for the worse. Her brother Tyreese was close with Daryl since they worked together most of the time. They were basically bodyguards for Merle and both hated what they had to be a part of. Daryl had to because of his brother but Tyreese needed the money. There were many a time when a knife caught them just right or they got a good blow to the face. After years of being in the business, Sasha received many visits from the two. Soon enough, she was helping out all the guys. She claimed to hate getting what she called "dirty money" so the money she did receive went to buying medical supplies for them although Daryl knew she kept some for herself.

She was close with Daryl, after being with him so much, and she was one of the few people he trusted. She understood his situation with his dad and brother and never pitied him which was the one thing he absolutely hated. He hated the sad glances people always gave him and the sympathy like he was a piece of cracked glass about to shatter. She didn't give him pity and he treated her like she was one of the guys. She hated the guys treating her different, like she was just a body to fuck. It was a mutual understanding between the two and that was a good part of the reason why they got along so well. Daryl trusted her enough to let her know where he moved to in case she ever needed his protection and Sasha respected him enough to keep his secrets.

Sasha entered his house cautiously. He hadn't even thought about locking the door when he brought the girl in. He was in the middle of nowhere and she was more of a concern than someone trying to break in.

"Daryl…?" she called out. It was her first time in his house and her eyes were wandering everywhere, taking in her surroundings. She made her way to the kitchen where she found him in a chair anxiously watching the girl lain out on his long oak wood table.

"Daryl… what have you done?" Her eyes were wide and her jaw was open. Daryl looked up from the girl.

"You gonna fucking help her or not? I don't have time for twenty questions. She's barely holding on so hurry up and do something!" Daryl yelled gruffly. He was stressed and worried for this girl he didn't even know. He didn't want her to die knowing that he could have done something to save her.

Sasha was taken aback. Daryl had never yelled at her like that before, but looking at the girl on his table she guessed he was a changed man. She quickly set herself to work, stitching and mending the poor girl in silence as Daryl's intense blue eyes watched her like a hawk.

"Her leg," Daryl mumbled. Sasha looked up at him and that was enough for him to continue. He felt bad for yelling at her like that, but it had to be done.

"Her leg. It's bleeding too. Tried to bandage it up but I dunno if it helped."

Sasha finished the last stitch on the large wound in the girls arm and bandaged it. She then moved cautiously to her left leg where she noticed the large brown stain on the side of her calf. She gently lifted up the sticky pant leg and noticed the blood had started seeping through the bandage Daryl had placed. She found the entrance wound, but there was no exit wound to be found. Sasha sighed. She was grateful the poor girl was knocked out, because what she was about to do was going to hurt like a bitch. She felt around her leg and found where the bullet was protruding slightly. She grabbed a scalpel and began to cut into her leg.

The sound of a chair scooting on hardwood made her look up. Daryl was pale and turning away. 'Baby,' she thought and kept on working.

About an hour later Daryl came back into the room. He saw Sasha sitting on his couch watching his TV with a bag of his chips in her hand. Normally he would have said something to her, but the day's events had taken a lot out of him and she had done so much.

He plopped onto the couch next to her and mindlessly started at the television with her.

"So...is she gonna be ok?" he asked. Sasha looked over at him and sighed.

"Well she had a pretty sloppy cut along her wrist, but she got lucky with that one. Just missed the vein that would have killed her. I stitched and put clean bandages on it. She'll have a scar but it should heal nicely,"

"And her leg?"

Sasha looked down at her hands. "I don't know. The bullet wound was messy and she lost a lot of blood. I managed to get the bullet out but I don't know how much damage it caused her muscles. We'll have to wait and see. I have her on a drip though, so she should wake up in a few days at the most."

Daryl stared ahead nodding his head and Sasha gently touched his arm.

"But I don't understand Daryl. Why? You would never hurt anyone who couldn't fight back so why? Was she with Merle? I-,"

Daryl stood up cutting her off. "Leave my brother out of this. My life don't revolve around him. He don't control me any more!" He yelled at her for the second time that day.

"Yeah? Well then what happens when he gets out of prison in a week? What about then? His boys are already looking for you and he's been real close with your Daddy Dearest!"

Anger flared across Daryl's face but he gained control and collapsed back down onto the couch, running his hands through his long hair. She was right. He was never going to escape Merle. He needed to stop taking things out on Sasha and deal with his shit himself. She had a right to know about the girl anyways.

"I found her." He mumbled.

"What?" Sasha looked down at him. She was still standing with crossed arms.

"Found her. In the woods. Was huntin' and followed her trail of blood to her. Took her back as soon as I saw her."

"You didn't find any ID on her? Nothing?" Sasha was looking at him like he just told her he shit rainbows.

"Nope. Just her bloody body. Thought she was dead, but she's a fighter ain't she?"

Sasha let out a short laugh.

"Yeah. That girl is a damn fighter." She went back to the girl and started cleaning up her equipment around her. "You just going ot leave her on the table?" She asked.

"No I'll move her to my bed." Sasha raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing as she held the drip while he carried her to her room.

They settled her down and Daryl sat on the edge of the bed, looking at her sleeping body. She looked so peaceful, he wondered if she was in pain. Sasha rearranged her bags and cleared her throat.

"I'm going to go okay? Call me if anything goes wrong. I left some pills and fresh bandages in your kitchen. Change her arm once a day, and the calf twice. Also put some antibiotic cream on the other little cuts and scrapes on her body," Daryl hadn't even noticed those. "She should be waking up in a few days and then you can figure out then what you want to do with her." She gave him a small sad smile and left. The sound of her car leaving woke Daryl from his thoughts and reality set in.

What was he going to do with this girl?

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**Hey! Thanks so much for all the reviews and follows! You guys are awesome! :) Just wanted to add that I tried to research the medical stuff the best I could, but I'm not a doctor or anything like that so if something is super wrong just message me and I'll fix it! Thanks for reading :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Beth's eyes were heavy as she struggled to wake up. She heard what sounded like a shower running and was confused. Was she dead? Did he catch her? She had tried so hard to escape. If she was dead then why did everything hurt so much?

Her eyes finally opened and she came to the realization she hadn't died. She looked around the small room she was in. It was mostly bare, filled with only the essential furniture. The only additional items in the room were a chair covered in clothes that was pushed into the corner and a crossbow hanging on the wall.

She suddenly realized that she had no idea where she was and started to panick. She tried to look out the small window to her left, but only saw dark trees and knew she wouldn't be able to see anything until morning. She wondered if someone was trying to kill her but that wouldn't explain the IV in her arm. She decided she was going to make a run for it, and quickly pulled IV out. She hissed at the pain, but the adrenaline soon took over.

Looking over her shoulder at the adjoining bathroom she silently cursed as she heard the water turn off. She pulled her legs over the bed and hopped down from the large bed, ready to run only to collapse on the floor. She cried out in pain and cradled her left calf. Her mind flashed back to gunshots and tears soaked out of her tightly shut eyes.

"Shit!" She heard someone yell and a man wearing only grey sweatpants hanging low on his hips rushed out of the bathroom. His long hair was still dripping from the shower and his chest glistened. He was incredibly fit, with large biceps and a six pack and small scars that littered the front of his body.

Beth quivered and tried to back away. She was afraid of what the man was going to do to her. His eyes widened and he put his hands up defensively.

"Hey, hey I ain't gonna hurt you. I ain't pussy enough to hurt a girl. Found you out in the woods passed out on a tree. I dunno what happened to you, but you're safe with me 'kay?"

Beth nodded, her eyebrows still furrowed together. It made sense what he was saying. Plus it would explain why she had been given medical care and wan't tied up to a chair somewhere. She began to stare at his chest, suddenly uncomfortable with him being half naked and even though she had to admit he had a nice body, she felt her cheeks start to get warm.

He followed her gaze down to his chest.

"Oh. Yeah I guess I'll just put on a shirt real fast."

Beth looked at him strangely as he walked backwards to his dresser, keeping eye contact with her the entire time. He broke contact to open a drawer and pull on a white wife beater tank. It was a bit tight on him and she could still see his muscles, but it was better than nothing and she couldn't exactly expect him to cover up completely in the hot Georgia summer.

He walked back over and started to reach towards her and Beth involuntarily flinched back.

"I need to move you. Unless you're gonna sleep on the floor, you're gonna hafta let me pick you up." His voice was gruff and Beth nodded, signaling her consent to him touching her.

He was surprisingly gentle as he lifted the light girl and before she knew it he had settled her down on the couch. He handed her the remote to the TV.

"Here, don't got many channels but you can see if there's something on. I gotta make a phone call."

She watched as he walked out of the room into the adjoining kitchen. She turned the TV onto a local news station but kept it low enough where she could hear the man's conversation. She knew it was bad to eavesdrop, but she barely even knew this man so she figured it was alright this time. She heard him talking to someone named Sasha. Maybe it was his girlfriend? She racked her mind but didn't remember ever knowing a Sasha. She listened back again. The man sounded mad and she heard him curse. She quickly pretended to be absorbed in the television as she heard him come back into the room. He handed her two pills and a glass of water.

"Here take these. Sasha said they would help with the pain."

Beth obeyed and gratefully swallowed the pills. She couldn't remember a time her body hurt this bad. She looked over as he sat down on the couch next to her and leaned back, relaxing. He sighed and while continueing to stare at the TV with her, started to talk.

"Can't get any help until tomorrow. Sasha's wasted so she can't come over. Hopefully she won't be too hungover tomorrow so she can come do her damn job. Guess you're stuck here in pain for another night." Beth turned to face him.

"Wait who's Sasha? And what do you mean another night? I just got here didn't I?" Daryl turned his head to meet her eyes.

"Darlin' you've been asleep for three days. And Sasha's the one who saved you. I found you and she fixed you up. Was supposed to call her and have her come check on you when you woke up, but I didn't plan on her getting drunk." Beth's mind began to wrap around the information she was given. Everything started to make sense.

"Wait, you want me to stay at your house? You could be a serial killer for all I know. I don't even know your name! I want to go home." Beth didn't mean for the tears to start building up, but everything was too much and she let them poor over.

"Don't cry. Ain't gonna kill you but I don't do tears. Name's Daryl Dixon. I'm sorry darling but it's not the best idea if you go home. I dunno who did this to you and my guess is they're gonna want to finish the job. I get it if you don't wanna tell me what happened, but you gotta remember that I don't know you either." Beth kept her head down. He was talking to her like a little kid. He had a point though, she was twenty years old. She needed to suck it up.

"Sorry. My name is Beth Greene." She took a deep breath as she met his eyes. "Thank you so much for saving my life. You could have just left me to die, but you didn't. I can't thank you enough." This time it was Daryl with the head down and she could have sworn she saw him blush a little.

"It was nothing," He mumbled.

"And you're right." She said. "I should probably tell you what happened, but I'm really tired right now and its a long story. I'll tell you tomorrow I promise." Her eyes got heavy as she fell asleep on the couch.

Daryl looked at the sleeping girl he barely even knew and sighed as he carried her to his bed. He knew the pills would make her sleepy, but he really wished he knew what happened to her. He went back to the couch and tried to get comfortable as thoughts and worries about a girl he barely even knew swarmed in his head.

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**Not sure I like the way turned out but it's a necessary chapter. Sorry if it's a little boring right now but it's going to start to pick up pretty soon :) You guys are amazing with the favs, follows, and reviews! Thanks a bunch! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Beth awoke the next morning to a plate of breakfast shoved in her face.

"Here." Daryl said. "I hafta go huntin' but I'll be back in a few hours to check on you and give you lunch. Sasha's coming at four check on you and then we'll figure out what to do from there." He grabbed the crossbow from wall and walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Beth assumed he must have put her back in his bed after she fell asleep on the couch last night and felt guilty. He had been sleeping on the couch for four days now, letting a complete stranger use his bed. As comfy as the couch was, sleeping on it for days in a row would not be fun.

She looked down to the plate in her lap and began investigate her meal. There was a piece of toast that was almost burnt, scrambled eggs that were a bit on the runny side, and black coffee. Beth had hoped for better, but was never one to complain and ate the food gratefully. Her stomach felt like an empty black hole and the food was devoured in minutes. She decided that once she was better she would cook for him. She had loved to cook growing up and had quite the talent for it as well.

She looked around the room, bored trying to figure out what to do. She noticed two pills on the bedside table with a small glass of water and took them. She slowly drifted to sleep as the dull pain her entire body felt subsided and everything felt good.

* * *

Hunting cleared Daryl's head. It let him relax and forget about everything that was going on. It relieved his stress and it was just him and the nature. The soft rustlings of an animal unknowingly making itself Daryl's next meal was what he lived for. However today, he was out of it. His head felt foggy with the thought of Beth in his house and Merle being released in three days. Beth was running from something and he couldn't just leave her out on the street, but she wasn't exactly safe with him either. He took a deep breath and attempted to clear his head of the mess that was his life. He didn't want to leave the house more than necessary once his brother was out so he needed a large kill. He caught sight of fresh tracks and instincts took over as he began to follow it.

Hours passed before Daryl started to head back, carrying a buck over his shoulder. His face shone with sweat from the hot Georgia sun, and all he wanted to do was get drunk and forget about everything for a while. Distant screams made his blood run cold and alerted the tired hunter. He began to jog towards his house where the screams only got louder. He dropped the buck and held up his crossbow, prepared to kill. The only thing Daryl could think about was one of Merle's guys hurting the poor unsuspecting girl in his bed. He quickly checked around the other rooms in the small house before busting in his room, preparing himself for the worst.

His crossbow lowered as his eyebrows knit in confusion before quickly rushing to the screaming girl's side. Her eyes were wide open and she was breathing as though she had just ran a marathon.

"What's wrong, what's the matter, are ya hurt?" Daryl was frantically trying to assess Beth and was growing more and more agitated by the lack of answers.

"He's coming. He's coming. He's gonna get me. He's coming." Beth had stopped screaming and began to panic and repeat herself. Daryl barely knew the girl and now she was doing this shit. He had enough.

"Beth! Calm down!" He screamed in her face causing her to snap out of the episode and collapse into his arms sobbing. Daryl was taken aback, and never being one to comfort, sat still until she was done.

"I'm sorry- I just," Tears began pooling in her eyes again.

"Shh stop yur fine. I'll uh fix ya something to drink. Here," He lifted her out of bed bridal style, extra cautious about her injuries and set her down on the couch. He quickly set to work making her a cup of tea noting that Sasha would becoming in an hours time.

Soon enough he handed her the warm mug and awkwardly sat beside her, making sure to give her more than enough space.

"I'm so sorry about that whole thing, I just, I guess I had a nightmare and I thought he was coming for me and-" She trailed off looking at her skinny fingers wrapped around the simplistic mug. She met Daryl's skittish blue eyes.

"What I'm trying to say is thanks. I know it's crazy to have a stranger in your house." She took a deep breath and looked back down at her hands. "You can ask me anything you want."

"S'ok you don't hafta do that." Daryl responded awkwardly, trying his hardest to be polite to the girl.

"Its the least I can do. You fixed me up, gave me a place to stay. You deserve to know a little about the stranger you saved," She gave a small smile. Daryl knew he probably shouldn't ask anything, but with what happened earlier, it would be best for both of them if he knew what she was hiding from.

"Uh, what were you runnnin' from when I found you? Who did that to you?" He decided it would be best if he got straight to the point. Beth gave another small smile and inhaled deeply.

"It all started when I started dating this guy, Shane. My family told me he was bad for me. Daddy said he didn't like him, and my sister Maggie said he was just gonna break my heart. I thought he had a good heart though. I guess I just believe in the good of people too much. He was a good boyfriend. But once we moved in together he started getting. . .weird. Everytime he saw me talking to another guy, even if he worked at a store, he would get all protective. I couldn't talk to any guys at all. And when I would talk to him about it, he would start yelling at me and a few times he hit me." Beth saw Daryl's jaw tighten and looked down at her cup trying to keep a steady voice.

"At first I thought he was just stressed out over work, but when he hit me I knew it wasn't that. He was really starting to scare me so I tried to run away a couple times, but he would always find me and punish me for leaving. He got really scary after that. He never let me leave the house and broke my cell phone so I couldn't call anyone. I finally started to run one day before he came home from work. I jumped out of the window so he would think I was locked up in our room just sleeping or something, but he had come home early that day. I had no other choice but to run. He went crazy and basically tackled me to the ground. He managed to cut my wrist with his pocket knife, but I got him real good where it hurts and started to run away. He's a cop and he always kept a gun in the back of his trunk. He said it was to protect us or whatever. Anyways he shot at me while I was running away, and thats how I hurt my leg. And then you found me." Silent tears ran down her face, but Beth's straight face remained.

"Hey. Yur safe here. Long as you're with me that son of a bitch ain't gonna touch ya again." Daryl spat the promise out as both hunter and hunted sat silently together on the couch.

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**A/N: I was planning to to finish the story before the incident on the show happened. I will continue to finish it regardless. Updates will be more frequent, but I am very busy so expect up to two weeks between chapters. I hope you enjoy !**


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